Dad’s fears over speeding spot

Ian Stuart and his boys (Seb and Jacob) were nearly knocked over when a speeding car drove through the crossing they were on - despite it being on red. (D527C451)

Published:13:00Saturday 20 December 2014

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A concerned father has called on Kirklees Council to act over speeding cars in Birkenshaw after he and his two sons were nearly knocked down.

Ian Stuart, 38, and kids Jacob, 10, and Seb, eight, who go to Birkenshaw Primary, were walking home from the Christmas lights switch-on when they had a near-miss at a pedestrian crossing in the village centre.

He said: “The lights turned to red, the green crossing sign came up, the beeps came on and the cars travelling down Bradford Road came to a halt, so we started crossing.

“As we walked into the road a car came straight through the lights at speed without even attempting to stop or slow down.

“If my two boys had run across the road, as they and many other children have done previously, they would have been dead.”

He said the oncoming vehicle was merely three to four feet away from them. “If we had jogged across we’d have been knocked over, simple.”

Ianhimself lives in Bradford Road, and said that people travelling between 50-60mph on the 30mph stretch is a daily problem.

“There are so many stories of near-misses. I’ve had so many people coming up to me saying ‘It’s happened to me too,’” he added.

The speed limit was reduced from 40mph in 2000, but Ian thinks the council should place speed cameras or slash the limit again to 20mph, before it is too late.

He believes the benefits of doing this would outweigh the cost of accidents or deaths as a result of speeding drivers.

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